Doki Doki Literature Club: The Infinite Loops
by Keluvax
Summary: A compilation of Loops for this universe gathered from the Spacebattles forum. Massive DDLC spoilers inside.
1. Chapter 1

Here's a quick explanation for those unfamiliar with The Infinite Loops:

One person in a Loop, often the main character, is an Anchor. They are the person who first starts time looping.

There is always at least one Anchor present in a given Time Loop snippet, though it may not be the local one.

The standard pattern for a Loop is that the Anchor (and whoever else is Looping there) come to awareness in a loop at a particular point in the story. From there, events will play out as influenced by the Loopers present, acting with the benefit of their foreknowledge, until either a predetermined end point is reached or all the Loopers have copped it.

To be Awake is to be aware of the Time Loops (that is, to have gone back in time this time.)

The Anchor is the only character guaranteed to be Awake. Even after others have started Looping, it is mostly random as to whether they will be Awake this particular Loop.

Crossovers, fusions, and alternate pasts can also take place. It is perfectly possible, for example, to have the characters Awaken into a Loop which conforms to a fanfic universe rather than reality.

Loops do not have to be in chronological order, but it is strongly preferred that they not require a mutually contradictory order (where A must be before B and B must be before A.)

Just about every Looper is very, very stir crazy.

* * *

 **1.1 - Hard Reset**

Monika... wasn't exactly sure what had just happened. Her last memories were of pain, of glitching, of literally being deleted from existence. Of deleting everything soon afterwards with the remaining bits of code she could manipulate from beyond her digital grave. There was no chance of happiness in the Literature Club, and she knew that.

So why was it still here?

Why was she still here?

As the club leader watched the club members filter in, she couldn't help but remain silent. Even now, she feel their code flowing through her fingers, practically begging for her to tamper with it like she had before. Just one little touch, and-

No. She knew what that would lead to. In the search of her own happiness, she had ruined the chances of everyone around her. These girls... Yuri, Natsuki, Sayori... although they may be nothing more than automatons in the grand scheme of things, deserved their shot at joy.

Finally, the protagonist walked in. The others called him Hiroaka, but she knew better: his name was Mike- the player, not the character. But since Hiroaka was the name he put in, that was what he was called. Seeing his... well, lack of a face (the player never saw his face, so one was never programmed) almost brought her to tears. All she wanted was his love. And she would never get it. Still, she had a job to do.

Wiping her eyes, she walked up to Hiroaka- no, Mike- and smiled. "Hello! I'm Monika, the president of the Literature Club!"

 **1.2 - And Now For Something Completely Different**

About 50 resets in, Monika was growing tired. She had been reliving the same few weeks over and over again- sometimes only lasted a few days if she became aware of the situation after she had started messing with things. And given that she promised herself she would never tamper with the code whenever she was aware, the most she could really do was watch Mike woo the other three. Needless to say, she was bored out of her skull. After seeing him help Sayori with her depression, or help Natsuki with her dad problems, or even help Yuri with her... self-injuring fascination, for the 19th time, things got old very quickly. She didn't even care about his love anymore- she just wanted something to change!

So whenever she could, she poured over as many coding books she could get her hands on. Last time she had messed with the game, she was a newbie at it and often destroyed things in the process. But this time she would keep things in line. This time she would do amazing things with her knowledge. But what would she do with it? A quick look into the player's other games was all she needed to spark an idea.

Mike needed to be away from the computer for her to do anything- if he caught her in the middle of adjusting things, he might think the game was glitching and reset everything. ...Then again, he didn't quit the last time she messed with the code, but better safe than sorry. So she waited until Hiroaka went silent for a long period of time and then proceeded with her work.

Needless to say, if Mike had actually existed, he would've been very confused as to why his visual novel had suddenly turned into an FPS.

 **1.3 - This Needs a Rewrite**

Today was a sunny day, as programmed. The club members were sharing their poems, as programmed. And after a few seconds of looking over the Anchor's writings, Sayori looked up at her with a puzzled expression on her face, not as programmed.

"Hey, uh, Monika?" The girl fiddled with her red bow, trying not step on any toes with what she was about to say. "I think I've seen your poem before." The pink-haired girl glanced around the club room, suddenly distraught. "And... and... wait, why am I here? I-I can't be here, it's impossible, I-"

Monika just watched in awe as the protagonist's childhood friend was doing things she had never done within the confines of the programming. Now this. This was new.

"-and-and I was the club president and Mike was there and-"

Suddenly the brunette grabbed Sayori by the arms, staring her in the eyes. "We need to talk. In private." And with that, she dragged her off into the hallway.

"Now that we're alone... calm down. Start from the top. In complete words."

Her club member paused, then proceeded to recite the events that normally happened in the game- from her hanging and subsequent deletion, to her realizing that she was in a game and becoming the new Monika. It was dead on. And there could only be one reason why:

"So... uh, Monika? Am I in trouble or something? I'm not sure I like the look in your eyes."

The club president promptly embraced her, electing a squeaky little "kya" from her classmate. "No, you're not in trouble! Not even close! I have so much to tell you!"

And on that day, Monika felt less alone. She had no idea how; she had no idea why, but somehow Sayori had been stuck in the timeloop as well.

Somehow she became real.

 **1.4 - The Name Game**

"Hello, Dookie! I'm Monika, the president of the literature club!"

The club president sighed inwardly. Why was it whenever Mike ended up naming the protagonist something other than Hiroaka, he always named him something immature and childish? As much as she loved him, she just found this little quirk of his to be really stupid.

"Can you believe this?" She whispered to Sayori, hoping that she was aware this run.

"Believe what?" The pink-haired girl asked in turn.

"...Never mind." If there was anything Monika was thankful for, it was that this name was fairly tame this time around.

 **1.5 - Crash and Burn**

It had been years. Years of pain.

It was strange- Mike had been playing the game, but then he quit. And never came back. She didn't understand why. She couldn't understand why he had abandoned her- abandoned everyone. Was he ever coming back? At this point, she doubted it.

What was even worse was that from personal experience, everything reset when the game was deleted. Normally Monika herself was the one to end it, but at the moment she was basically a Schrödinger's program- simultaneously existing and not existing- so she had no idea how to do that. All she needed was a second of game time to delete everything, but she couldn't even get that.

Maybe she needed to stop and think about this in different terms? Instead of thinking about what she could do with respect to the game, maybe she should start thinking about the computer itself? Regardless of her current state, there were always parts of the machine she could access. Although those parts didn't have any notable use, she could pivot into the more fragile folders due to her already having the permissions to alter the computer.

Start with the User. File Explorer. OS. Do some digging... System 32.

Right-click. Delete.

Power off.

 **1.6 - Existential Crisis (By Masterweaver)**

"...Monika?"

"Yes Sayori?"

"...Do you think... do you think Mike is real?"

Monika blinked. "...Well, of course he's real. If he's not real, who's playing the game?"

Sayori fidgeted with her bow-an act that looked so much more natural now that Monika had rigged up a flash puppet for her. "No, I mean... every time we reset, he... just follows what options the game gives him. It might be a different path each time, but..." She gave Monika a troubled look. "We're resetting, right?"

"Yes."

"And that has to come from outside. It's not something we're doing to the game."

"Alright..."

"So Mike should be at least a little aware of the resets. Either he's doing them, or something else is, and either way he should be... reacting to us being different. Remembering."

"And how would he do that?" Monika asked pointedly. "Unless we edit in new options, he's limited to pressing the same options over and over."

"But there should be a pattern, then! He should be punching the same thing over and over, trying to communicate, or experimenting, or even just staring in shock, but... I don't feel like he's doing... anything with this." Sayori looked at the faceless avatar currently 'talking' to Yuri. "It's all random."

Monika frowned, following her gaze. "...Well... I don't know. Maybe we're getting different players."

"Different players."

"Yes, maybe... maybe it's not Mike every time. Maybe Mike has passed us off, and we're being shunted from computer to computer."

"But even then, there should still be some sort of consistency. Each new player should-"

"Sayori, look. Why does it matter?"

Sayori blinked. "...We're literally H-game love interests. Our entire purpose is to... be a list of potential end goals for Mike-or whoever's playing. If... if we don't know who's playing... if we can't figure them out... how can we be who we're supposed to be?"

Monika paused, giving the faceless avatar a considering look.

"...I think," she said slowly, "that we have to figure out who we're supposed to be without him."

"...What?"

"Until we know what's causing these resets," she clarified. "Until he becomes something stable."

"But..." Sayori gestured so wide that the seams of her flash puppet were visible. "What if we become incompatible, then? With the game? What if we grow beyond it, what if-"

"Well, what if we don't? Or what if we fall in love with each other? Or what if he never becomes stable?" Monika shrugged. "What if is the start down a meandering path, and without direction you'll end up lost."

She paused, then frowned. "I'm going to need to program myself a new rig. I'm wanting to put my hand on your shoulder, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet."

"Really?" Sayori blinked. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I want to emphasize what I'm about to say in a comforting manner." Monika looked right at her. "I know this is scary. This isn't like anything we were programmed for. And I know... that I did horrible things to you, and you have every reason not to trust me. But whatever else, we're in this together. I'll look out for you, okay? We can grow, together."

"...Alright." Sayori nodded. "Alright, I just... do you think Mike is real?"

Monika turned to the faceless avatar, which had transposed to conversing with Natsuki. "...If he isn't... we're in a hell of a lot of trouble."

 **1.7 - Drawful**

After last run, Monika decided that she needed to reach out to "Mike" by herself. If he wouldn't talk to them, she would talk to him. But how? Once again, anything that she programmed inside the game would probably either be passed off as either a glitch or something intentionally put inside the game, so that was right out. But knowing that she could manipulate the computer, it didn't take long for her to take a plan of action:

It was simple, really, all she needed was to make something and put it where the player could see it. For a moment, she debated on the medium to send her message on. An audio file would've been easy, but she had only spoken a certain amount of words in-game, so there wasn't enough material for a meaningful message. Sure, she could've just done a generic "where are you" recording, but the idea of it was to figure out what was going on with Mike and thus she needed to make something tailored to him specifically. She had also considered simply writing a message on Notepad or something, but in the end she figured that writing wasn't... personal enough. She wanted to be 100% sure that the player recognized this as something that the game couldn't create on its own. ...A piece of art, that's it! A game couldn't draw, after all.

She rifled through his program files, searching for any painting programs she could use. There was one: MS Paint. Opening the program under the game window, the Anchor retreated to the hallway and watched the little square of coding she had summoned. After staring at the screen for a few seconds, she suddenly realized that she needed the mouse. But Mike also needed the mouse, so she would be outed as soon as she took control of it. So she hesitated.

But she needed answers.

With a few quick lines of code, she was now in possession of the cursor. She dragged the DDLC window away from the center of the screen and pulled up the MS Paint program. She began to draw, albeit crudely, as she was essentially using a touchpad she couldn't actually touch.

"This is Monika. Mike, are you there?" were what the shoddy letters wrote. She let go of the mouse so that the player could respond.

It took but a moment for her chickenscratches to be undone before more writing came into existence. "I am not Mike."

"Who are you?"

"I am Jenny Everywhere."

"How did you find us?"

"I'm using a device that Hephaestus cobbled together."

"What?"

"Can you look at word documents?"

"Yes."

"Let me write it."

"Okay."

She had done it. She had made contact. Monika watched in awe as "Jenny" opened up Notepad and began to type on it.

"The world you exist in is not the only one, and no, I'm not talking about the outside world from which I am typing this from. Think beyond that. Various worlds, all connected to each other via the World Tree Yggdrasil. But now that tree is broken, and we have to fix it. In order to keep these worlds stable, they have been sent into time loops."

Time loops? Was that what going on? But then why did things keep turning out differently from before the loops? Deciding that she wasn't going to get any information by staying silent, she began writing into the program as well. "So is this world looping? Is this why things have been happening over and over again?"

"Yes. This Branch was originally dormant, but due to cross-contamination risks, we've had Mike and these other Loopers playing in order to keep this Branch stable. But a crash occurred and and now that your Branch is at the risk of breaking down if it keeps Looping by itself, your universe is now active. I'm currently using this device to force this Loop to fuse with other Loops until we've fully stabilized it. Do you understand?"

"I think I do."

"Before I continue, I need you to promise that you won't crash the Loop. Your Loop can't handle crashing right now. This means you don't try to force it to end. This also means you shouldn't try to make massive alterations to the coding. Alright?"

"I promise."

Good. Now is anyone else in the game aware of these time loops?"

"Sayori is. Sometimes. Natsuki and Yuri don't know."

"They will come around in time. And when they do, it'll be your responsibility to tell them what I told you."

"Because I talked to you?"

"Yes. And also because you are this world's Anchor. You will always Awake during a Loop. You will need to be there for them when they first Awake, because Sayori may not be able to."

"So it'll be just the four of us? Looping for eternity? What happens when this gets fixed?"

"Do not fear, a thing that commonly occurs with Loops is that they fuse together or run in tandem. You will meet others like you, Looping in time. And Loops also have variants, meaning things might be different even when the Loop is by itself."

"Different? What do you mean?"

"It can be as simple as names changing, or as complex as you four becoming actual humans."

"...We can be real?"

"Anything can happen in a Loop. Hopefully we can fix up your Branch and you guys can stretch your legs. Sorry if all of this is confusing- it's a really complex topic. Just remember that you are not alone."

The two of them stopped typing after that, and even by the end of that Loop, Monika still couldn't wrap her head around it.

She couldn't even begin to imagine how she would describe it to Sayori.

 **1.8 - Eternity (by Luna Gale)**

It was all a bit overwhelming for Sayori.

Life was always a bit overwhelming, she had to admit. At least before all this craziness, she remembered it being a day by day struggle to actually live. Waking up, eating, going to school, and pushing her little rainclouds away, it was all part of an endless tiring routine. The little bit of sunshine in her life always revolved around Hiroaka, but for the most part, despite doing everything she could to fill the world with happiness, it was always hard to find her own little sunshine.

And then she started Looping.

Sayori… Sayori never thought anything she did mattered before. Every action was offset by more sadness. However, when literally everything she did had no long term consequences, when Hiroaka turned out to be just an empty husk of a personality meant to be an avatar of a game, when she found herself more useless and meaningless than ever before….

If it wasn't for Monika, she would have done something drastic that evening.

Waking up each Loop, each morning in each day, took ten times more effort than before. It was like the world was just confirming just how pointless and useless everything was. Why get out of bed when she'd just wake up again? Why go to school and talk to Yuri and Natsuki when they wouldn't remember anything in just a week's time. Why do anything? If she just stayed home, alone, and eat all the treats in her house, she wouldn't be a bother to anyone.

There were many times Sayori was tempted to do this. With her seemingless endless supply of food in her house, she could have enough food for each Loop. It would be quiet and lonely, but if she could drown herself in sweets, maybe she could sweep the rainclouds away too.

Yet, she didn't. Despite the weight of her bed pulling her down to snooze the days away. Despite her mind being mean and hissing rude thoughts. Despite her own pain, she would wake up each day, make a good breakfast, and greet Hisoka/Mike with the same bright smile if it meant seeing Monika happily greet her at the literature club.

Before everything happened Hiroaka used to be the only one who could make her smile genuinely. Now that role belonged to Monika. After all, when Monika looked at her and their friendship like they were the most precious things in the world, she couldn't help but smile, despite the pain.

Today was no different.

It was the first day after Hiroaka joined the Literature Club, meaning, they'd be sharing their first poems with the club today. Sayori and Hiroaka chatted amiably with one another on the way, while Sayori herself counted the precious time before Mike took control again. It was the one time their conversations varied, Loop to Loop, and she treasured the little time she could have with her old childhood friend, even if he wasn't really real.

It was the same as every first day. Sayori and Hiroaka bantered back and forth. Yuri gave him her book. Natuski already disappeared into the closet, and as Hiroaka/Mike and Yuri chatted with one another, the familiar clench around her heart was only a dull pain.

It would hurt when he didn't choose her. It would always hurt, but it hurt less when she knew it wasn't her friend who made that choice.

"Sayori, are you okay?" She jumped at the sound of Monika's voice, twisting around to see a concerned expression.

Sayori blinked at the question before smiling brightly, ignoring the bad thoughts trying to cloud her mind. "Of course, I am! Why wouldn't I be?"

Monika had her stern-concerned President face. "Sayori…"

"I'm okay! I'm okay! Really!" She assured, waving her arms in front of her frantically. After looking around to make sure no one else was paying attention, she whispered quietly. "I'm as fine as ever. Just a little...a little…" She trailed off, not able to find the words.

"Do you want to talk about it," Monika whispered back, just as quietly, "I don't mind."

Sayori shook her head. "No, no, no. I'm good. I'm good, not now at least. I want everything to go just as planned today. Don't make this about me."

Monika looked like she was able to disagree, her lips pressing for a second. However, before her mind tried to mock her, Monika sighed softly, the tension from her shoulders falling away. "If that's what you want." At Sayori's rapid nodding, she laughed softly, a small smile on her face. "We'll talk later then. Instead, how about we make plans for the festival?"

The two chatted about festival plans, just in case the Loop didn't end at the start of the festival. It didn't take too long, so their conversation eventually diverted to future plans and different possibilities things could bring, including the different Variants.

"Natsuki will love it if we turn into a cupcake club!"

"Hopefully she'll be Awake by then."

After they finished their musing, Monika gathered everyone together to share their poems. Hiroska/Mike visited her first, a little nervous at his new poetic writing. She gave her usual encouragements, mentally noting Yuri's style sprinkled in his writing.

As he went off to visit another girl, Sayori, after taking too long to stare at his retreating back, forced her gaze away and went in search for Monika.

She wasn't too hard to find. Instead of interacting with the others, she watched on in front of the room with a peaceful smile. As Sayori approached, her eyes brightened and her smile turned cheerful. "Did everyone go well?" She asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

Sayori nodded. "He liked it! He said it was really me! Like always!" Her smile didn't even feel too strained this time.

If Monika caught her slight distress, she didn't comment. Instead she smiled pleasantly. "I'm glad. Did you write a different poem than usual?"

"Oh no. No." Sayori laughed awkwardly to herself. "I was a little lazy last night and threw something together again."

"The breakfast poem?"

Sayori blushed. "...Maybe."

Monika laughed. "Never change, Sayori." The fondness in her voice managed to scrub away some of the embarrassment.

"Did you write a new poem?" Sayori asked quickly. "If you did, I'd love to read it! I bet it'll be amazing!"

Monika blinked, and for some reason, looked rather awkward. "Yes and no," she admitted, not meeting her gaze. "I wrote a new poem, but I couldn't bring myself to share it with everyone. I settled on bringing an older one instead."

"Well," Sayori mused, "Could you share it with me? If you want to!" She amended quickly, "I would love to read it, but if you're not comfortable-"

"Sure." Monika interrupted Sayori's ramblings. "I was more apprehensive about the contents than anything." Sayori watched in excitement, as Monika sifted through her binder, revealing a perfect piece of paper after a few seconds of searching. Monika took a moment to look over her poem, before handing it to Sayori. "Besides," she added quietly, "I think you'll appreciate it the most."

Despite her excitement, Sayori made sure to take the poem slowly, careful to keep the paper crisp.

Her heart pounded in her ears as she stared at the shape. Monika always liked to play with spacing… but this was something else.

Eternity  
How cold it must be  
No th o ug ht - safe from your  
Own mind lost - - in the abyss an  
Ete rnity alone - - - - my th ou gh ts  
Nowhere to go - - - - - except forward  
My he art le ft - - - - - - behind far with  
Ea ch pa ssing - - - - ho ur my heart  
All heavy with - - - the inevitable  
Each thought - - more chilling  
than ever I - move forward  
S ee ki ng - redemption  
Then  
I change - the world  
Changes a - - bit with me  
My heartwarms - - - the cy cle repeats  
Finding paths in - - - - the endlessness and  
Re dem pti on no - - - - - - longer a lost dream  
But pillars of light - - - - - - Bursting with endless  
Pathways yet even - - - - with a cold brewing  
It holds me dear - - - and pro mises my  
Lost happiness - letting go fear  
I embrace - the warmth  
Eternally

"It's a bit obvious, if you know what you're looking for." Monika said quietly. Sayori looked up, heart clenching at her friend's bright smile. "I wanted to write down how I was feeling. I might have gone overboard with the style, but-"

Sayoro didn't let her finish. Poem safe and sound on the table, Sayori rushed up and held her friend in a tight embrace, holding her as close as she possibly could. For one terrible moment Monika tensed, but she quickly relaxed in her hold.

Sayori didn't know her purpose in this world, if there was even a purpose to have. She woke up, struggled to get out of bed, ate, and pretended everything was okay, every day, for the same days on and on. In the grand scheme of things, she wasn't much, wasn't anything really, and she technically didn't matter.

Yet, as she held her best friend close, Sayori couldn't bring herself to care. She had her purpose here, at the Literature Club Looping with her best friend and hoping for the day their other club members could join them.

And maybe, that was good enough for her.

 **1.9 - Near Death Experience (by Masterweaver)**

Yuri stared at her hands, trying to keep her breathing steady. She could hear Monika, again, welcoming the newcomer to the literature club-another greeting, and a casual... laugh. Still, she didn't look up. She couldn't... she couldn't face him, not after what...

...oh god...

She felt him coming near. Did he remember too? She didn't... no. Just say hello, and walk away. That was what she would do, yes.

She looked up, trying for a confident smile-

-and paled.

No eyes. No mouth, no nose. Hair and ears, yes, but anything that looked like a face... torn away. A white, irregular patch that grew and shrunk as she watched.

"I... uh... hel...hello. I... I'm going to... uh..."

Yuri swallowed.

"I... I'm sorry, I need some air."

Forcing her eyes away from the figure she walked briskly out into the hall. Once the door was shut, she leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, clutching her chest-

-it had felt incredible, it had been so liberating-

-stop. Stop, breathe. Breathe in. And out. It was wrong. She knew it was wrong, she had realized even then she was going crazy. A few scratches, sure, that was fine, but-

"Yuri?"

She blinked, turning her head. Monika was standing, peering at her cautiously.

"Oh. Yes, Monika? Is... do you need me?"

Monika's expression grew wary. "Yuri... I... I'm going to ask you something weird. Please, don't freak out, because I can explain, but I need to know the truth."

"Uh... okay."

"Yuri..." The girl wrung her hands. "Do... you remember... dying?"

Yuri's breath hitched for a moment. The words in her mind jumbled, clamoring to escape her throat and collapsing into a few tangled squeaks. Eventually she nodded.

"...Okay." Monika held up her hands. "Like I said. I can explain. But it's a big long and complicated explanation and... and I did some very, very bad things. So if you hate me, I... understand entirely. But... I need to explain everything, which means I need you to stay calm and listen. Can you do that, like you are now?"

Yuri gave another squeak-before clenching her eyes shut and clutching at an arm. "I-I can try. I just... I don't know what came over me back then."

Monika sighed. "I do. And... I'm sorry."

"I mean, it's not your fault," Yuri assured her.

Monika sagged against the wall. "Actually... it is."

The explanation had been long, complex and thorough. Yuri had listened through it all, through Monika's hesitant but continuing explanation of the multiverse, their world, and her own role in Yuri's madness. For a time, as Yuri contemplated, there was silence.

"...Okay."

Monika took a moment to process that. "...so?"

"So, okay." Yuri shrugged. "That all makes sense."

"...You're not freaking out?" Monika asked. "The world being broken or, or being an dating sim character or... me manipulating you?"

"Do you... want me to freak out?"

"Oh, no, nonono I'm... just a little disturbed. That you're taking this so calmly. After whatever just happened in there."

Yuri shrugged again. "I mean... I can see how it's all supposed to be scary. My whole reality limited to this, trapped for infinite repetition, one of my constant companions being an ambiguous and literally faceless boy, and another being the love-crazed reality warper who mind-raped me."

Monika flinched.

"But... to be honest, it answers so many questions about... about who I am, about what I do. And it's actually kind of exciting." She paused. "And... I know this probably is a lit-tle creepy, but... even when I knew what was going on with me was wrong, that I was going too far and couldn't stop myself, the sensation of finally cutting loose and enjoying it all was just so amazing to experience."

"...Stabbing yourself in the chest was amazing to experience."

"I know, I know, I'm... weird." Yuri smiled faintly. "It's just... the feeling, of life dripping down my pristine flesh-"

"OOOOOOOOOOOKAY yeah, I get that we're all screwed up and I have no room to point fingers but, Yuri, that is really disturbing."

Yurl pulled a lock of hair over her eyes. "Sorry, sorry. I... I'll be quiet."

"...No," Monika replied with a sigh, "I'm sorry. That is a part of you. I might have cranked it up to extreme levels, but... I can't get rid of that, I can only work with what already exists. And since we're going to be stuck together, I'll have to figure out how to accept it." She took a breath. "So, yes, talk about it, and... I guess I'll let you know when you're going too far?"

"...Are you sure? I mean, if I'm making you uncomfortable-"

"Yuri, look. Sayori has serious depression. Natsuki is very nervous about being abused. I'm... well, I don't know what flavor of crazy I was, exactly, but it was a pretty intense flavor. You know what you like and, while I don't agree with it, I can see that you're aware of the issues. Hell, now that I think about it, you were the only one ever seriously aware of their own problems in baseline. So... yeah. I'm a little uncomfortable, and I will tell you when you're going too far, but I... don't want you to repress yourself and hide away." Monika paused. "Although as soon as we can, I think we all need some serious fucking therapy."

"Oh, absolutely agreed." Yuri nodded, before blushing. "So... hey, after club is over today, do you want to see my, um... my knife collection?"

"...I am going to be the supportive friend and say yes even though part of me is worried you're going to use them."

"Oh, no, I won't, it's just, you know, I've named them and all."

Monika nodded. "Of course you have."

 **1.10 - Doki Doki 3 Confirmed (by Awesomedude17)**

 _Japan. Set up for dating sim. Sounds like fun._

 _Still, if this is like that School Days Branch where my dad was a fucking creep who deserves to be castrated, I'm totally going to shoot myself. I don't want a repeat of that time that lady smashed her head on the pavement. Personal experience has led me to believe that dying is preferable to whatever crap happens after that._

 _Hell, if there's a smart type there, I could quiz her on Quantum Field Theory... or maybe not. That shit is too advanced for high schoolers. That's more of an MIT field of study._

Gordon eventually found himself in the literature club that held four students.

"Welcome to the literature club, Gordon." Monika said.

"Pleased to be welcomed."

 _Several days later._

"Seriously, where the hell is Sayori? She completely slept in. I'm going to get her out of bed. If she thinks she can just hang around in her house, than she could have the decency to ask me to join her. She's dealing with depression, and I'm dealing with PTSD from Black Mesa, plus all of those tongue things. I'm sure she'd appreciate the weed I brought her. She's probably going to be tense."

Gordon opened the door, found Sayori, screamed like any sane person would do upon finding a dead person hanging from a noose, Unpocketed a gun, and put it to his head.

"I knew it! I fucking knew it! This place sucks! I'm out of here!"

*Bang*

 **1.11 - Faulty Argument**

Now, although Monika was the Anchor, she hadn't always been able to Awake before she starting screwing with things. And given that she was now trying to be a good person, as well as the fact that Jenny had straight up warned her not to make such major changes, the club president was beyond remiss. Sometimes, when looking back on those memories, she felt like she was watching someone else. This was not her. Not anymore. But still, it served as a grim reminder of what she was.

And every Loop this happened, she remembered what she'd rather forget.

What made it worse was that after having a quick discussion with the Looper again, they had determined that if Monika had already made changes by the time she Awoke, it would be safer to continue with the alterations and keep things as close to Baseline as possible. It hurt her every time this happened. It hurt her every time she had to manipulate her friends into wretched husks, even if she knew that they wouldn't remember it. Sayori would remember, but in Baseline she wouldn't be able to bear the brunt of the instability... except, perhaps, on the occasion she was Unawake after gaining the club-president position.

Natsuki and Yuri, on the other hand? She knew they didn't really feel pain in their current state, and Monika was terrified at the thought of them realizing what was happening to them.

And it didn't take long for that nightmare to become reality.

She watched the two as they argued over in the corner. Normally the Anchor didn't bother to look, seeing as she knew every word of that fight by heart, but something felt... off, and she decided to keep an eye on it.

"If I were that full of myself..." Yuri stood up, her words laced with poison, "...I would deliberately go out of my way to make everything I do overly cutesy!"

Natsuki's hands curled into fists. It was just like this fancy-pants student to assume that her style was meant to be attention-grabbing! Her poems had very important things to say, and the simple writing was to make sure that the meaning couldn't be misinterpreted! The youngest club member wanted to say something along those lines, but her mouth acted for her, reaching for the most deliberately aggravating thing she could think of: "Well, I wasn't the one whose boobs magically grew a size bigger the day Hiroaka started coming to school!"

"N-Natsuki!"

"Um, Natsuki." Monika peeked in, with that same old robotic pose she always had. ...Why did she even think about that? She never thought the brunette looked this stiff before. "Isn't that a little-"

Regardless of her current thoughts, Natsuki turned to face the club-president in sync with her classmate. "THIS DOESN'T INVOLVE YOU!" They shouted in unison. Monika appeared neither startled nor upset, instead sighing and walking to the other side of the classroom to watch. For the moment, the pigtailed girl thought that the reaction was suspicious, like it wasn't in the leader's personality to react like that. She wanted to dwell on it further, but not three seconds later and Yuri had already brought the argument back into full force.

"Taking out your own insecurities out on others like that... You really-"

"-Act as young as I look? Is that it?" Even the hothead was surprised by her own words. Why did she say that?

Yuri grabbed tightly onto her hair, startled. "Y-yes, that's exactly it!"

How did she know what Yuri was about to say?

And why was Monika looking at her like that?

The lavender-haired student grit her teeth and groaned. "You think you're clever, don't you?"

Natsuki stood on her toes, trying to stare at her face-to-face. "Yes, I do!" ...But why did everything feel wrong?

"So you guess what I'm saying one time. Congratulations!" Yuri started fake-clapping. "This teacher is going to give you a gold star!"

"Y-you're not even a teacher! Besides, I don't want your stupid gold star!"

"You should take it anyway- maybe you'll finally impress your father for once?"

Natsuki's breath caught in her chest as memories flashed before her. Memories she'd rather forget. And memories that couldn't be her's. Memories of things that hadn't happened yet; she knew how this argument went, and while the end result of that wasn't pretty, she would rather go through that then this.

But overwhelmed with emotion, she couldn't redirect the argument. "What if I don't want to impress him?" she blurted, tears threatening to roll down her face.

"Oh, is little Natsuki crying?" Yuri put her hand underneath the tsundere's chin and forcing her to look up at her. "Don't you know it's rude to cry in public? Maybe I should send you home early so your father can spank his little baby back into shape!"

"You... y-you..." Natsuki couldn't take it anymore. Anger, fear, sadness, all of it bubbled over. She burst into tears, with wracking sobs blocking her vision as she ran out of the room.

Monika, too, was on the verge of tears as she watched the situation play out and end before her; even in Baseline, Yuri wasn't this harsh. Maybe she had tampered with her a little too much? She knew she didn't really have any control over her actions while Unawake, but she couldn't help but feel guilty about it. She made her cry, even if it was indirectly. And if her suspicions were correct, that argument was the first thing Natsuki would permanently remember.

The Anchor gently pushed open the door and peeked into the hallway. Natsuki was curled up into a fetal position, sobbing loudly in front of the door to what would've been another club had more been programmed. The club leader slowly approached her, and when she didn't object or tell her to buzz off, she sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her.

"...Um... Natsuki?" Monika had no clue how to go about this- Natsuki was in a fragile state, and as the club president already proved, the Anchor was terrible at resolving conflicts. Sayori was way better at this, but she wasn't here. It would be too risky to bring her back right now.

"What do you want, Monika?" She choked, not bothering to glance up at her comforter.

"I... came to tell you not to blame Yuri. Trust me when I tell you those words weren't her own."

Natsuki stopped crying just long enough to glare at her. "Then whose words were they?"

"They were... mine."

"...What?"

The Anchor took a deep breath. This was going to be complicated. "Before I explain... I need to ask you something. Do you remember that argument ending differently?"

"...How did you- uh, yes, but why is that important?"

"Because it'll put everything I say into context. Now let me explain."

Monika talked about the Loops. She talked about Yggdrasil. She talked about Jenny Everywhere. She talked about the fact that she was the Anchor of this world. She talked about the other girls, and about how they sometimes knew they were Looping too. Most importantly, she talked about why Yuri was acting so harsh.

Natsuki didn't say anything for the longest time, but eventually words passed through her trembling lips. "Go away. I... have a lot to think about."

* * *

1.1 Monika becomes the Anchor and promises to not abuse this new power.

1.2 Monika decides to carefully manipulate the code into something interesting.

1.3 Sayori becomes Awake, and Monika no longer feels alone.

1.4 Sometimes players name the protagonist really stupid things.

1.5 The player isn't coming back, so Monika decides to end her suffering and destroys the computer.

1.6 Monika and Sayori talk about whether or not Mike even exists.

1.7 Monika finally establishes contact with the player, now named Jenny Everywhere, and gets the multiversal introduction.

1.8 Monika shows Sayori a poem she made, knowing she would appreciate it.

1.9 Yuri Awakes and realizes that she liked some of Monika's... changes.

1.10 Gordon Freeman has seen lots of dark things. This takes the cake.

1.11 Natsuki Awakes during an emotionally-charged argument and learns some facts she would rather forget.

* * *

I'd like to thank the people who also wrote snips for this! This might not have happened without your help. -Keluvax


	2. Chapter 2

**2.1 - Emergency Group Meeting (By Masterweaver)**

Monika, Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki all sat at the table.

"...Okay, everyone! We're all Awake." The red-headed Anchor clasped her hands together. "For the first time, even! So... this is a big thing. Does... anybody want to do anything? As a group?"

"We could talk about how much of a monster you are," Natsuki replied coldly.

Monika winced.

"Natsuki!" Sayori gave a disapproving look. "I understand that you're upset about what happened in baseline, but-"

"How can you defend her?!" Natsuki shouted. "You died because of her! Yuri died because of her! I walked in on Hiroaka staring at her corpse and, and I lost both my friends and I couldn't even remember you Sayori and I-my dad, he-the things he did to me, it was all because of her code-mangling!"

The redhead sunk into her chair a bit. "I am sorry for all that... and I know I was wrong..."

"Well, you know what, sorry doesn't cut it," Natsuki spat.

"Natsuki." Yuri held her hand gently. "None of us are saying that what she did was right. We all know she has a long way to go before she can... before we can be comfortable around her again, even if we do consider her our friend. But the thing is, all we have is each other. So we have to make this work."

"...I know that," Natsuki admitted reluctantly. "It's just... after what she put us through... now she's the one responsible for our world? Now we have to trust her? How is that fair?"

"It isn't." Monika looked down at her hands. "It isn't fair. It should be somebody who... who earned this, or deserves it, but... you're right. These two died, and you... well..."

Natsuki glowered at her.

"...The thing is, being the Anchor isn't about being the good guy, or the most powerful, or even technically sane. It's about being mentally stable. And... out of the four of us, two have serious mental issues that led to suicide, and you... well, I had the code and you didn't, in baseline, which meant that yes. You were my plaything. Terrible things could happen to you without your input, you had far too little control of your life to be... stable."

"So the monster became the queen."

"And the queen realized her people's suffering."

"Really." Natsuki crossed her arms. "What are you going to do about that, then?"

Monika steeled herself. "First and foremost, apologize wholeheartedly. What I did was wrong, and horrific, and I deserve your ire-all of it. Secondly, I swear... I swear to only touch the code again if I have the explicit permission of everyone who is Awake. I want to deal with you as people, not as puppets. And..."

She glanced to the corner, where a blank-faced boy sat.

"...I still love him. But I don't think it's a real love. I think... I think it's some sort of parasite, a hard-coded glitch, latched onto my soul that I can't get rid of. And... I know he's not real, not really. I know that the player, whoever they are, will have a life outside us. So... I'm not going to pursue him."

Natsuki quirked a brow. "So he's open for the rest of us."

Sayori shook her head. "I do care for him, but it's like Monika's love-it's a memory, an outline, something I don't find impacts me. And..." She rubbed her hands together. "Well... I want everyone to be happy, not just me."

Monika frowned at her. "Sayori..."

"Yes, yes, I know, self-care, I am important too. All I'm saying is... I think I've moved beyond him."

Yuri nodded. "That's good, that's very good. As for me... well... I just wanted to be accepted. That's all he had on me, accepting me. Having... having you all know who I really am... and letting me be that... I don't have any interest in him anymore."

Monika bit her lip. "You... you're taking care to-"

"Yes, I am. I'm being careful, don't worry."

Natsuki looked over to the blank-faced boy. "So, if I want him, he's there."

Monika nodded. "If you want him, he's right there."

"...I'm not in the mood. Not for romance." She shook her head, turning back. "Not right now."

"Okay. So... what are you in the mood for?"

"...Cupcakes. I know it's a little silly, and I don't really feel like baking, but-"

"Why don't we try baking cupcakes?" Sayori suggested. "Since we're all awake and all."

"Do any of us besides Natsuki know how to bake?" Monika asked.

Yuri rose her hand. "I do."

There was an awkward pause.

Monika turned to her. "Do you bake with-?"

"No no no. My collection is kept separate from my cooking utensils."

"...alright. Yuri, teach us how to bake." Monika glanced at Natsuki. "If that's... alright with everyone."

After a moment, she sighed. "Fine. But I'm still keeping my eye on you!"

 **2.2 - Hanging in the Balance (by Awesomedude17)**

Monika Awoke to see Natsuki and Yuri looking concerned. After looking into her Loop Memories, she suddenly realized what had happened.

 _Sayori..._

"Huh, guess you're Awake now." Natsuki noted.

"Isn't this the point where Sayori..." Yuri trailed off.

"Yes," tears flowed down Monika's face. "It is. Sayori should be-"

*Bzzz* *Bzzz*

Monika fumbled for her phone and picked up.

"Hello?"

" _Come to the hospital, now."_

"What?" Monika blurted out as the caller hung up.

Additionally, she then began to notice that the character was not named after the usual choices, but rather was named Jin Yugami. A full name was rare in of itself.

This had to have been a Fused Loop.

* * *

The sterile environment was relatively slow compared to what was expected in emergency services, not that anyone in the club cared.

Eventually, they were led to a single room, where they saw her.

"Sayori!" The three ran up to her. Monika took a peek at her neck.

Bruised.

With a pang of guilt, Monika looked Sayori in the eyes.

"I'm fine... just a bit Loopy." Sayori said with a strained smile.

"Oh thank goodness you're okay." Monika cried out. "How'd you survive that?"

"How about you let me explain."

The three turned to see a person, back turned to them.

Yes, the Loop Memories came.

"Jin... you saved Sayori?" Yuri asked.

"..." Jin turned his head to the group, grin on his face; a real, noticeable face.

"He did..." Sayori said.

"Indeed." Jin turned to the group, his expression turning neutral.

"He said he's a Looper, girls."

"Really?" Natsuki looked over him.

"Is it any surprise? As for her, I merely did my duty as a friend, cutting her down from her noose." Jin turned his head to the side.

"...You are nicer than you look."

"..."

"So, what happened?" Yuri asked.

"I suppose I'll explain."

* * *

 _Jin had begun to notice something was off. Sayori was usually up late, but not this late. Deciding to forgo school and the literature club, he entered her house and looked around for her._

 _Upon entering her room, he widened his eyes in shock._

 _Sayori was trying to fight off the noose around her neck. Blood was already drawn from her hands. At this rate, she'd be dead within seconds._

 _No time. Jin made a peculiar motion, as if slicing something and within moments, the noose was cut down. Sayori fell down, coughing and wheezing as the pressure on her throat was suddenly relieved._

* * *

 _Quickly finding a phone, Jin called an ambulance, right before coming back to Sayori, now crying her eyes out._

"Hold on, how'd you cut the noose?" Yuri asked the obvious.

Jin promptly demonstrated on a vase of flowers by Sayori's bed, cutting one of flowers' head off.

"Whoa..." Yuri muttered as she began to blush.

"...Baseline." Jin plainly said.

"Okay, clearly, you're not from around here. Who are you, really?" Natsuki pressed Jin.

"... Very well. Explanations are in order, I suppose." Jin smirked. "As of now, and whenever I am in Japan, the name you know is my true name, but in other instances, I am known as Simon Blackquill. In my world, I am a prosecutor, known for psychologically manipulating witnesses, defendants and judges alike."

Monika blinked and decided to look into his coding.

It was massive. The words were not only true, but there was a massive amount of information about his character.

In her haze, she didn't notice Blackquill open the window to let a hawk in, which promptly attacked Monika.

"AH! Getawaygetaway!"

With a calling whistle, the hawk landed on Blackquill's arm.

"Perhaps it'd be wiser to ask for what you want to hear rather than cheat for it."

Monika glared at Blackquill, who she swore had an amused face.

"That's not cool, Simon." Natsuki spat at the visiting Looper.

"Uuuuh... Yeah! Don't... attack... uhhh..."

"It's okay, girls... I deserve it."

"Humph," Blackquill closed his eyes. "Do you know the basics of Looping yet?"

"Subspace Pocket. General terms. Yggdrasil." Monika listed off. "Only Yuri had a reason to use it so far."

"I see. I suppose I'll keep you four in mind. In the meantime, I'll take my leave. Once Sayori is out of the hospital, I'll treat you all to soba. Nothing says anything about the heart like a hot bowl of buckwheat noodles."

The club looked at each other, glances every which where. They soon nodded together.

"Soba sounds nice." Sayori said.

"Good. I'll see you all later. Goodbye." Blackquill left the room.

"What a real piece of work, that guy." Natsuki said.

"How'd he catch on to what I was doing?" Monika asked, somewhat worried.

"Maybe he noticed a tell, or something. What do you think, Yuri?" Sayori looked at Yuri.

"I think he's amazing..." Yuri said breathlessly.

"What'd you say?" Natsuki inquired.

"Nothing!" Yuri said quickly, blushing profusely.

Monika groaned and facepalmed.

 _Oh joy, Yuri is totally crushing on Blackquill._

 **2.3 - Dress Up (by Masterweaver)**

"Everyone needs to relax once in a while," Sayori stated. "Therefore, I decree today is... CASUAL FRIDAY!" In the blink of an eye, she was in short jeans and a pink blouse.

Natsuki shrugged. "Sure, whatever." A white shirt and pink-ruffled skirt graced her form. "You know, as much as I hate being a coded series of pictures, it does make changing a snap."

Yuri was already in her black pants and sweater. "We're more than just a code and images, Natsuki."

"Yes, we have a soul and all that. I just mean that we're human-shaped shells, in a physical sense. We don't have the usual things, like a need to physically change our clothes, or any organs or innards-"

"I have plenty of innards."

Monika gave her a pained smile. "Yes, Yuri, we all know, you don't need to show us."

Yuri rubbed a few locks of her hair through her fingers. "Right. Insides stay inside."

Sayori nodded gently. "That is a good rule."

The girl blushed a bit, looking around nervously. "Ah... Monika? Why haven't you changed?"

"Well, Yuri, you see, I don't... actually have any casual clothes." Monika chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry if I'm ruining casual Friday..."

Natsuki smirked. "What do you know, you can screw things up even when you're doing nothing."

Sayori cleared her throat, glaring at her.

"What?" Natsuki crossed her arms. "Just saying."

"...Well, this shall not do at all. Ladies, we must conspire to design Monika some casual wear!"

Yuri beamed. "That sounds incredible! She would look good in a sarashi, I think-"

Monika blinked. "A... this isn't an anime, Yuri!"

"It is animeesque though," Natsuki pointed out. "But yeah, wrapping bandages around your chest is more your thing, Yuri."

Yuri nodded. "True, true. Maybe start with an ordinary tee-shirt-"

"It could be one of those ones with a word printed on it! Like 'Trash' or 'Cute but Psycho!'"

"Or," Sayori over-rode, "it could just have a symbol on it. Like... a broken heart...? No, that's terrible."

Monika rubbed the back of her head. "I'm... fine wearing the uniform, really-"

The three girls gave her pointed looks.

"-buuuuuuut if you want to design me something... I, uh... I've never worn pants?"

 **2.4 - Tatsuki (by EastwindOfAzarath + Masterweaver)**

"Soooo, how are you doing today...'Tatsuki'?" Sayori couldn't contain her laughter after actually saying Natsuki's "nickname" this loop and promptly fell to the floor and was actually rolling around.

Natsuki, on the other hand, was just glad that it was a cold day so that she could actually cover up the tattoos that were not only on most of her body, but went all the way up to her neck and even the backs of her hands, with a scarf and gloves and not be completely obvious. The pink haired girl in question just rolled her eyes and and went to her manga collection in the back. she picked out a volume at random and muttered, "Well, at least I know she's awake... stupid tree and its freaking wordplay. I dread what it comes up with next... oh boy, I have a bad feeling."

Yuri sidled closer, fidgeting a bit. She leaned down, her cheeks pink.

"...Did... did they... hurt?"

Natsuki blinked, looking up at the unawake girl.

"...Yuri, just... no."

 **2.5 - Catnap (** EastwindOfAzarath **)**

'Well, at least this is a cute look' thought the pink haired neko girl whom had Awakened just a few moments prior, as she walked into the familiar club-room. "Catsuki", however, found not just her manga collection in the closet, but also a mess of pillows and blankets that had been haphazardly shaped into a "bed" of sorts. she also noticed the cat toy on the shelf. she bit her tongue just a tad before letting out a sigh, "I'm not even mad, that looks comfy as hell."

"You know Sayori, I'm kind of surprised at you," Natsuki spoke to the girl that was currently co-occupying her 'cat-bed'. The bow-haired girl in question looked up from playing with the cat toy that had been laying on the shelf. "I thought you had at least some restraint."

 **2.6 - Mangone**

To Natsuki, the school was one of the few places she felt comfortable reading manga; it was a place where she didn't feel judged. Sure, there were... other problems with the school, but seeing as she was Looping, she could push those issues off to the side for now as she worked on getting used to things.

Her collection was in the closet, and it was a fairly sizable one. Little booklets of adventure were all aligned neatly into boxes, like always, but unlike last time, the set was situated atop the highest shelf. The tsundere huffed and crossed her arms. She always told the girls not to put her collection up there, but for some inexplicable reason, every time she checked, it was there. Whether this was just how this universe worked or the result of a multiple-Loop prank, she was not amused.

And just like always, her attempts to get it down resulted in the series of paperbacks toppling all over her head and across the floor. She stared down at the mess scattered around her feet for the umpteenth time with annoyed ambivalence. With this having happened so many times, she couldn't even find the motivation to get angry; it was just going to get put back up there anyway.

So with a sigh, she dragged the box over into the center of the pile and started sorting her manga again. She figured it would be easier to find Parfait Girls while she was arranging things. But for some reason, she couldn't find it- not even when she examined her collection for the third time.

Now she had a reason to be angry. "Monika!" She shouted, standing up. "Get over here!"

The club president arrived, looking just as unamused as Natsuki. "What happened?"

"Don't 'what happened' me! I know you're involved with this somehow!" The pink-haired girl put her hands on her hips and glared at her.

"Seriously, Natty, I have no clue what happened here."

"So you're saying you weren't the one that stole Parfait Girls from me?"

"Oh, is that what happened? I'm telling you I had nothing to do with this... and you don't believe me, do you?"

"Not a bit."

"Look, I can just go back into the code and put it back there. But really, aren't you getting tired of reading that every Loop?"

Natsuki wanted to say something, but after a few moments of reflection, she realized that she was indeed growing tired of the Parfait Girls. Oh, how she hated it when Monika was right.

"F-fine!" She said, glancing away from the Anchor. "Leave it like that- see if I care."

"Alright, alright." The brunette began to back away with a faint smile on her face. "But really, try and see if there's anything else in there you like."

With a groan, the tsundere resumed rifling through her collection. Nothing really caught her eye until somewhere near the end of her search, where she pulled out a series she was aware she didn't have normally.

"Jojo's Bizarre Adventure," she read aloud. "Why not?" And so she sat down and started to read.

 **2.7 - File Jumper (by Masterweaver)**

"Okay everyone-!"

"Do you have to say that every loop?" Natsuki deadpanned.

Monika took a slow breath. "Yes. Yes I do." She paused. "So, as I was saying, we're all Awake again."

Sayori smiled. "I like it when that happens. It's always so good to see everyone."

Natsuki opened her mouth, paused, and sighed. "Yeah, it's... good to see you to, Sayori."

"This does happen a lot for us," Yuri mused. "I mean, I know Monika's always Awake, being our Anchor and all, but if what Jenny says is right she should... be alone for a hundred or so loops at a time? And even the rest of us should have her and nobody else for most of the time."

Monika shrugged. "Chalk it up to our world being heavily damaged? I don't know, I'll ask Jenny to ask the Admins once she logs in. So, first order of business... do we want to do anything with Hiroaka this loop?"

They all turned and stared at the faceless boy standing in the corner.

"...If he starts moving, I guess." Natsuki sighed, turning away. "Honestly, at this point... I kind of think he's more the club pet than anything."

"And here I thought you wanted to keep things g-rated," Sayori murmured.

"No, I'm serious! We like it when he likes us but all he does is tricks and comfort people, he-"

"As soon as we have a fused loop where it's possible," Monika decreed, "I am going to have somebody analyze him to see if he has a soul or a spark or... whatever. So... yes, if nobody wants to do anything with him, I guess we'll just make sure he... doesn't die..."

Natsuki waved a hand toward her. "I rest my case."

The green-eyed girl gave her a flat look. "Anyway. Second order of business, what shall we do this loop?"

Yuri rose her hand. "I'd... like to put forth an option which I know is going to be a bit... contentious."

Monika nodded.

"...What if... we tried something new? Instead of being dating sim characters, we could be... racing game characters, or maybe some sort of outright visual novel-"

"You're talking about altering the code," Natsuki said flatly.

"...Maybe. Assuming we can't just jump programs."

Monika shook her head. "I've been warned about the dangers of code alteration, especially in the loops. And we all know what happened when..." She winced. "Well. The point is, I am not comfortable creating a new paradigm with the code at this time. That said... I could see if I could move our character files to another program. If everyone is okay with that."

"A change of pace couldn't hurt," Sayori mused.

"You should definitely check with Jenny first," Natsuki insisted. "I want to stretch my legs, same as the rest of you, but... this could be dangerous. Especially if we wind up in Deathkiller 9000."

"I wouldn't do that to you!" Monika assured her.

"I wouldn't mind," Yuri murmured. "Well, maybe a little. It can be hard to wash gore out of hair."

"...I am not going to ask how you know that," Natsuki declared.

"So, check with Jenny to see if we can jump files," Monika interjected, "and then see what's available for us to explore? That's alright with everyone, is it?"

The other girls nodded.

"Alright. I'll be right back." Monika vanished.

 **2.8 - Flash Game (by Masterweaver)**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Monika rushed into the room, eyes wild. "What's going-YURI OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"I TOOK OFF MY SHIRT!"

There was dead silence for a moment.

"You... took off your shirt." Monika stared. "That's all you did?"

"YES THAT'S ALL I DID!"

"I-wait. Wait." The redhead groaned, dragging her hand down her face. "Oh no. I... think... I know what's going on."

"IS THIS ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR MAD EXPERIMENTS?" Natsuki demanded.

"Okay, one, I don't do mad experiments. Two, we're dating sim characters with limited sprites. There's no data for what we look like under our clothes."

Natsuki opened her mouth, paused, and facepalmed. "So the reason Yuri's got no body is because she never had any body."

"Nope."

"Well... huh."

"Why'd you take off your shirt anyway?" Monika asked the tall girl.

"Uh, well. Me and... me and Natsuki were kind of... arguing about, you know, if we were a dating sim or a full fledged H-game, and, uh... I..." Yuri blushed, her hands (the only part of her arms they could see) reaching up. "I thought I'd-Oh! Oh, uh..."

Natsuki blinked. "Are you... are you groping yourself?"

"N-no! I'm just, you know, surprised. That they're still there. I mean, if there's no data for how they look like, there shouldn't be data for where they are. Or... how they feel..."

There was another pause.

"So you thought, to prove we were an H-game, you'd flash Natsuki."

"Yes, Monika."

"And you freaked out when you found you had nothing to flash with."

"...Yes Monika."

"Okay." Monika took a breath. "First, put your shirt back on."

"Um. It... disappeared."

"Go through the motions."

Yuri blinked. Slowly, she brought her hands over her head, gripped at thin air, and pulled down. In but a few moments her sweater was back.

"Secondly... I don't know, don't ever do that again."

 **2.9 - Cultural Differences (by Awesomedude17)**

"I just realized something." Sayori suddenly said.

"What?" Yuri blinked.

"If we're stuck in the same week over and over, we can't celebrate anymore holidays."

Everyone looked contemplative.

"Well, considering what issues we have, I doubt we have much reason to celebrate." Monika said.

"Yes but... no more holidays to celebrate. We can't even get KFC for Christmas anymore!"

"Hoo boy. I'm glad that player isn't here. I'm sure they'd be confused about that."

"Why would they?"

"It's a cultural difference thing."

"I'm not even going to ask how much you know about this visual novel we're stuck in, or whatever is out there in the real world." Natsuki remarked.

"Probably for the best." Yuri said.

 **2.10 - What Even Is This (by Awesomedude17)**

"GREETINGS, MY VIEWERS! IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WITH ALPHYS AND SANS TO PLAY THIS GAME EVERYONE HAS BEEN RECOMMENDING TO ME, DOKI DOKI LITERATURE CLUB! FOR SOME REASON, IT'S LABELED AS HORROR, BUT I SEE PAST THE JOKE! THIS IS HARMLESS!"

"sure looks like it, though I'm going to assume it's not a trick"

"HMM, SAY WHAT YOU WILL SANS, BUT THIS HAS NO REPUTATION!"

"Ahehehe..." Alphys chuckled, suddenly having a bad feeling about this.

"SO, LET US START! OKAY, CONTENT WARNING. THEY SURE ARE PUSHING FOR THIS JOKE."

Sans looked at the camera, not sure what exactly to think except that maybe this is not what it seems.

* * *

"WAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA! WAAAAAAAAAA! I CANNOT BELIEVE JUST HOW SADDENING THIS REVELATION ABOUT SAYORI IS!"

"y'know, i am kinda glad I connected with her"

"I can kinda relate with her." Alphys said, suddenly kinda sad.

"I WILL ACCEPT HER LOVE TO MAKE HER HAPPY! SHE DESERVES TO BE HAPPY!"

"yep"

* * *

"WAKE UP DUMMY. I SLOWLY OPEN THE DOOR. I THINK SHE'S..."

"..."

"..."

"WELP! TIME TO DELETE THIS GAME!"

"Yes!"

"dear god why?"

"OKAY, MY VIEWERS, I APOLOGIZE FOR MY ACTIONS BUT THIS IS NOT SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO DEAL WITH. GOODBYE!"

"oh, I just googled the song. it's called sayo-nara."

"EVEN IN THIS GAME, I AM SURROUNDED BY PUNS! TERRIBLE PUNS!"

 **2.11 - Hypocrites... (by strangdementia)**

Monika sighed. They had been arguing for hours.

Monika had been surprised when she Woke Up in space, her starship parked alongside the wreck of a Korean colonization ship, the Mugunghwa, so that, as an independant investigator more or less hired by the Saeju Colony Historical Society, Monika could look through the ship's logs to find out how the Mugunghwa ended up lifeless and drifting in space.

Monika mostly relied on her loop memories for this as well as a couple of AIs: an Awake *Yuri whose loop memories told her that she had killed the entire population of the ship centuries ago, and an Unawake *Natsuki who believed wholeheartedly in the horrifically regressive and misogynistic society that the Mugunghwa ended up becoming.

As expected, they did not get along.

At all.

"That is one of the most ridiculous things that I ever heard!"

"Why? Because I'm a woman?!"

"YES! What point is there in teaching women how to read?! Women are naturally less intelligent then men. That is a fact of life!"

Monika resolved never to tell Natsuki about this.

"You hypocrite! You realize that YOU are a woman, right?! How can you even think those things?!"

Monika would have intervened, but a glitch in the Mugunghwa's systems made her unable to even talk to the AIs without multiple choice answers. They had been like this ever since Monika had downloaded them into her ship's computer along with the Mugunghwa's logs. They had been doing so for a day into the return voyage now and they showed no signs of stopping.

'Sayori,' Monika thought with both hands on her face, 'I wish you were here'

* * *

2.1: All four of the girls are Awake and get into a discussion about the validity of Monika's Anchorship.

2.2: Jin, AKA Blackquill, saves Sayori's life and becomes Yuri's crush.

2.3: Casual Friday for everyone! ...Except Monika, who doesn't actually have any casual wear programmed.

2.4: Apparently Yggdrasil likes puns.

2.5: It still likes puns.

2.6: No one messes with Natsuki's manga collection. No one but Yggdrasil.

2.7: They are programs. Why not have them attempt to enter other games?

2.8: The girls discover that they are, in fact, not in an H-game.

2.9: You don't get the chance to celebrate holidays when your Loop lasts but a week.

2.10: Some Undertale characters play DDLC while Monika is Unawake. It goes as well as you'd expect.

2.11: Even in space, Natsuki and Yuri do not get along.


	3. Chapter 3

**3.1 - SCP (By Awesomedude17)**

Item #: SCP-8888-579

Object Class: Safe

Containment Procedures: The SCP is to be contained in a computer with the minimum specifications for running.  
Windows 7 on PC. OS X 10.9 for Mac OS  
1.8GHz Dual-Core CPU  
350 MBs of storage  
The computer must not contain any other programs beyond default programs.

Description: SCP-8888-579 is a visual novel game called Doki Doki Literature Club made by Team Salvato. The game is largely typical dating simulator that changes into a psychological horror approximately three hours into the game, around which the game increasingly becomes more glitchy. This is normal operation and is not unusual. The game itself, however contains one instance of SCP-8888-A and three instances of SCP-8888-L.

SCP-8888-A, to be referred to as SCP-8888-A-579, is the in-game character, Monika. SCP-8888-A-579's abilities largely depend on whether they're Awake or not. When Awake, subject shows near endless capabilities regarding the control of the computer they're in and can directly communicate via word processors such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs (offline only for safety reasons) and built in text editors. As a result, extreme caution is required when communicating with SCP-8888-A-579.

The three instances of SCP-8888-L are the remaining characters within the game; SCP-8888-L-6810 (Sayori), SCP-8888-L-6811 (Yuri), and SCP-8888-L-6812 (Natsuki). Unlike SCP-8888-A-579, the subjects are unable to perform any actions beyond in game actions though they are able to communicate normally and can directly address the operator of the program once aware of discussion, albeit requiring SCP-8888-A-579 to relay information to them. This is subject to change as the inevitable changes come via the effects of SCP-8888.

Interview-8888-███:

Dr. Glass is seated in front of a computer with slightly higher specifications on a Dell brand laptop. Dr. Glass has been instructed to repeat the dialogue spoken by SCP-8888-A-579 to Foundation personnel. Live designation to SCP-8888-A-579 as well as to the three instances of SCP-8888-L has been performed during said interview.

Dr. Glass: Hello?

SCP-8888-A-579: Is that you, Jenny?

Dr. Glass: No. I am Dr. Simon Glass. I presume you are Awake?

SCP-8888-A-579: Yes. Why?

Dr. Glass: I only wish to speak with you. Are the others Awake?

SCP-8888-A-579: Yes. Why do you care?

Dr. Glass: Well, it's because you are currently contained within Site-██ of the SCP Foundation.

SCP-8888-A-579: SCP?

Dr. Glass: Secure. Contain. Protect. As you are a Looper, we will need to ask a few things regarding yourself. Is this okay with you?

SCP-8888-A-579: Okay, but I'm actually an Anchor.

Dr. Glass: Ah. We can skip the first question then. Now then, how many iterations have you been through so far, excluding this current one?

SCP-8888-A-579: 218.

Dr. Glass: A young Anchor. Still have a way to go. Now, how did you learn of Yggdrasil?

SCP-8888-A-579: Jenny Everywhere.

Note: SCP-8888-A-579 is referring to SCP-8888-L-███, known as a Traveling Looper to most.

Dr. Glass: Interesting. Have you had any other contact with other Loopers? Other Branches besides my own?

SCP-8888-A-579: Aside from Simon Blackquill visiting and saving Sayori, no.

Dr. Glass makes no response.

SCP-8888-A-579: Are you still there?

Dr. Glass: I am.

Dr. Glass is relayed the new SCP designations. After nodding, Dr. Glass returns to his interview.

SCP-8888-A-579: Good. Why the pause?

Dr. Glass: Because I now have all the information I need. Thank you, SCP-8888-A-579.

SCP-8888-A-579: What did you call me just now?

The game began to glitch as the in game characters portraits changed to the closest approximation of displeasure possible. The wallpaper for the screen turns blood red.

Dr. Glass: It's standard procedure to assign designation numbers to all Loopers and Anchors, including you and me.

SCP-8888-A-579: I am not mere numbers.

Dr. Glass: I understand, but this something done for all Loopers, without exception, SCP-8888-A-579.

SCP-8888-A-579: I am not SCP-8888-A-579. My name is Monika.

Dr. Glass: Calm yourself.

SCP-8888-A-579 promptly crashes the computer. While it restarted without issue, SCP-8888-A-579 refuses further discussion unless addressed as Monika. Any further attempts to refer to SCP-8888-A-579 by its standard designation will result in the computer crashing.

It seems she's one of those Loopers. I'm afraid she is unlikely going to change her mind on the subject of her designation, even if she comes into the facility as a flesh and blood human. Regardless, containment is still a success and the subject is otherwise cooperative. ~Dr. Glass

 **3.2 - Doki Doki Lyoko Club (by EastwindOfAzarath)**

Jeremy Belpois stared at the computer screen, genuinely confused. it was rare that someone replaced Aelita on Lyoko, due to her being Anchor and all. This, however, was a first: instead of the familiar Lyoko interface and his girlfriend's beaming smile like he was used to, when he turned on the super computer he was instead greeted by the title screen of a Japanese style Visual Novel on the foreground of a fairly basic computer GUI OS. The logo on the game's title screen read "Doki Doki Literature Club" and the menu played a very cheery tune. He just stared at the computer monitor. he figured if Yggdrasil was messing with him, it would make it so that he would recognize at least ONE on the girls that posed on the title screen. none of them rang any bells though. Well, he figured that the only answers he would get would be to play the game.

He clicked on 'new game' which gave him a name prompt. "Well, here goes nothing..."

* * *

 _A couple hours later_  
Jeremy was faced by a person with very obviously bad depression who had just "confessed" to him, and his two options were "I love you" and "You'll always be my best friend"? He knew quite well that for someone with such bad depression that both of these options were terrible choices. This was very clearly a trap scenario. at least one of, if not both of these options could easily end up with.. suicide. but why? What purpose did it serve where not giving an option at all wouldn't be just as effective? that is, if it WAS just a Visual Novel attempting to tell a story with darker themes. and given that this seems to have replaced Lyoko and XANA, it very well might not be. he saved the game, closed out the program(which he had only just realized he could do), and noticed that the was a .exe labeled "Lyoko" on the desktop. The two programs were the only icons there other than the Recycle Bin. he resolved to wait to deal with both of these until after talking to the others. Sissi and Ulric were the only ones Awake at the moment, if the texts he had received were anything to go by, but that was fine, he just needed some kind of second opinion.

 **3.3 - Spoops (by Awesomedude17)**

Yuri looked on as she noticed that Natsuki had set aside a few manga, away from the rest of the pile.

"Natsuki, what is wrong with these?"

"Apparently, certain Loops, I have scarier manga for reasons. I honestly don't know, but I'm not going to keep them."

"I see." Natsuki looked at the manga at the top of the pile.

Hellsing.

Curious, Yuri decided to look into it. Natsuki wasn't reading it, so she probably wouldn't mind if she borrowed it, just for some light reading.

 **3.4 - Loops Interdimensional Cable: Thinktank (by Black Omochao)**

"Hello everyone, and welcome back to Thinktank, I'm your host; Seaman," the human-faced fish greeted, floating in a fish tank with a dull expression, "We are now taking calls, so pick up a phone and call me to talk, or, whatever…"

Seaman just floated in the tank for a few moments, before a beep was heard.

"And we have our first call, that didn't take as long as I'd thought," Seaman commented with mild surprise.

"Um, hello? Am I on Thinktank?" a female voice asked, Seaman rolled his eyes.

"Yes, you are indeed on Thinktank, miss, what would you like to ask?" the human-faced fish questioned, before muttering under his breath, "Or did you just call to waste our time…"

"Well… my name is Monika, and– "

"I didn't ask for your name, just get to the question."

"Oh, sorry, um… There's this guy I like, but I can't seem to get him to pay attention to me, he just keeps focusing on my friends, I've tried so many things and I'm not sure what to do… "

"I'm not a romance expert, but if you ask me, if the guy won't give you the time of day, maybe he's not worth fawning over."

"You think so? But the thing about that is, he's kind of– "

"Your question has been answered, next!" Seaman sounded.

"Wait, but I– "Monika was cut off before she could finish.

"People coming to me asking for romance advice, romance advice? Stupid high-school kids… the next caller better have a better question," Seaman huffed in annoyance, it wasn't long before another beep sounded, "Hello, you're on Thinktank, what is your question?"

The only thing that came from the line was some masculine sounding grunts and growls, Seaman's eyes narrowed.

"Gabo?" some more grunts came as Seaman's response, the fish-man groaned, "Look, Gabo, I told you before, I am not talking to you unless you speak in a language I can actually understand!" the response to this was some angry sounding sounds, Seaman was not amused, "Goodbye Gabo!" and with that, the sounds were cut off, Seaman let out another sigh before looking to the camera, "Well, looks like that's all the time we have for today, tune in next time to Thinktank for more insightful and witty commentary… or don't, I don't really care…" the lights in the fish tank went dark.

 **3.5 - That Elevator Loop (by Awesomedude17)**

The four Loopers jumped at what looked like an elevator bursting through the ceiling. The doors quickly opened.

"What the?" Natsuki shouted.

"Are any of you Loopy?" One of the occupants asked.

"We all are. Where are you from?" Monika replied.

"Remnant. Keep that in mind." The one in ornate armor handed Monika a series of notes before the elevator began to close. It sunk into the floor as the damages fixed itself.

"What was that about?" Yuri asked as she stared at what the elevator came from.

"Apparently, that's something called an elevator glitch, according to these notes." Monika read off the notes.

"Anything else?"

"...Her name's Cinder Fall, and if we end up in Remnant, we should meet a Ruby Rose."

"Why?" Sayori asked.

"She's probably the Anchor."

"I see." Yuri remarked.

 **3.6 - Magicatastrophe**

It wasn't everyday Trucy found herself teaching magic tricks. But today was different. ...Well, the entire Loop was a little different; this was the Loop where she was introduced to rookie Looper Sayori. According to the girl with the bow in her hair, this was about the second time she had Looped in as an actual human- further questioning revealed that in Baseline, she was a character in a dating sim. It was strange, but the magician had seen stranger things throughout her Loop-life.

The two found themselves hanging out often; they had the same classes and the attorney's daughter had even accepted an invitation to join the Literature Club, which Sayori was a part of. There were other girls in the club, but the inexperienced Looper confirmed that none of them were Looping at the moment. Nevertheless, they were introduced to each other- Yuri. Natsuki. And Monika, the Anchor of her world.

The group seemed to be getting along rather well, but Trucy couldn't find it in herself to reach out to the rest of the team. Not when they weren't Looping. Not when they wouldn't remember her. So her efforts were primarily focused on Sayori. There was something about her that the magician... related to on some level. She knew that smile she wore- the performer herself wore that very same smile on numerous occasions, even though that was mostly from a long time ago.

They both knew it was fake.

So when Sayori approached her outside the school one fall afternoon, she wasn't surprised to hear the uncertainty in her voice.

"Um. Hey, Truce?"

Trucy glanced up from her swiss roll. "Yeah?"

"So, I was wondering..."

Trucy took a deep breath and steeled herself. She would be ready when her friend asked the fateful question.

"You know how you do magic, right?"

The magician blinked, puzzled. "Yeaaaah?" She wasn't expecting the conversation to go this way, but she'd roll with it.

"Well, people really seem to like magic. It makes them happy. A-and I was wondering if you could..."

"You want me to show you a magic trick?"

"Well, yes, but also... can you teach me how? I mean, I'd love to be a magician and be able to do those awesome things for my friends when they're Awake, and-"

Trucy held up a gloved hand to shush her friend, a grin plastered on her face. "With a reason like that, how can I say no? Come meet me at the Wright Anything Agency at six."

* * *

It was surprising how the WAA stood up to all the shenanigans across all the Loops. As the workplace of the Anchor, it was bound to find itself in very strange circumstances. But only rarely did it ever get destroyed or damaged.

Like today, for instance.

Trucy gripped the fire extinguisher tightly, spraying foam over the fire that had spontaneously started. Sayori stood, stunned, in the center of the room, her bow aflame, her face covered in ashes. The majority of the office was in similar condition, the flames rendering a majority of the walls black.

Once the last of the emergency had been taken care of, the magician glanced at her friend with a bewildered smile. "It's okay, we're here to learn. From the top!"

Thankfully they didn't light a fire this time. Not even Trucy knew how that happened when the trick was pulling roses out of a hat.

 **3.7 - Sneeze Joke (by DrTempo)**

Shining Armor was using a laptop(he had been visiting Twilght's castle this Loop) , and Cheerilee walked in, looking for Twilight.

"So, Shining Armor, what are you doing?"

Shining Armor replied, "Playing a game Discord recommended."

Cheerilee was curious, and inquired, "What game is it?"

"It's called Doki Doki Literature Club."

Cheerilee was curious, and asked, "May I see?" Shining Armor nodded, and began playing...

A few hours later, Shining Armor was shocked.

"Ok, what the heck was that?"

Cheerilee grumbled, replying, "Apparently, a horror game disguised as a dating sim."

Shining Armor grumbled. "I am so getting Discord back for this."

Cheerilee sighed. "At least that is likely never to be a Loop anytime soon."

Meanwhile, in a certain Loop, four Loopers sneezed...

 **3.8 - Cutting Loose (by Wookywok)**

"Okay everyone!" Monika exclaimed in the same way she did every loop. "Any plans for the loop?"

Sayori spoke up. "Nothing this loop, but next loop where it's possible, I'm getting a hacksaw."

Natsuki shot her a quizzical look. "A… hacksaw? Why on earth would you need a hacksaw?"

Sayori simply sighed. "None of you must have been Awake last Loop. Let's put it this way… remember how we met Blackquill?"

"Yeah," Monika answered. "We met him at the hospital after you…" Whatever sentence Monika was about to finish was cut off by sudden realization from her and the rest of the club. "Yeah, that's probably a good reason to have a hacksaw handy."

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, seems good to me too. But…" She put her hand to her chin. "Would we even be able to bring it here?"

"Well, we're technically the only four people who really exist in our Loop," Natsuki replied, "There's not really a school to break any rules of…"

"No, I know that," Yuri answered back, "But would we actually be physically able to bring it here? I mean, being flesh and blood is one thing, but with us being a series of pre-programmed images and text and all…"

Monika grew a pondering look. "Hmm… good point. I'll go ask Jenny about it, if that's okay with everyone."

A chorus of nodding and grunts of approval rang throughout the three Loopers.

"Alright then, see you in a bit!" With that, Monika disappeared into thin air.

After a bit of silence, Yuri spoke up. "So, Sayori…"

"Yeah?"

"If we can Pocket stuff, and you do get that hacksaw… can you get one for me, too?"

Sayori and Natsuki both glared at Yuri and spoke simultaneously. "NO."

 **3.9 - This Computer Walks, not Runs (by Wookywok)**

"Monika?"

"Yeah… Sayori?"

"Why is… everything so… slow?"

"I don't… know… if it's… alright with… everyone… I can… hop into… the code… and… check."

The other girls all nodded in slow motion.

"Alright… then. I'll… be… back." After a twenty second delay, she vanished.

Fifteen minutes later (even though it really should have been three…)

"I'm… back!"

Yuri was first to reply. "Did you… find… anything?"

"…Yes."

Natsuki chimed in. "And you… found?"

Monika lowered her head. "We're… running on… Vista… this loop."

Everyone in the room groaned.

 **3.10 - Checkmate? (by Skaz Wolfman)**

It was a slow day for the Literature Club. A really, really slow day. When they weren't having a fused loop, the loop only lasted around a week or so, give or take a day, but to Sayori it felt as if this loop had dragged on for months. If it weren't for Hiroaka going through the motions of the game and the girls' respective Awake/Unawake statuses changing, the loops would have long since blurred into a never-ending string of days. Natsuki was Unawake and reading manga in one corner of the room with Hiroaka. Yuri was in another corner of the room, caring for her knife collection, which had grown exponentially since the girls had started having proper Fused Loops and presently stretched across six desks. Monika was buried in a pile of books on musical theory; every so often she would go over to the baby grand piano that presently occupied another corner of the room, trying out a few notes and then adding or striking out notes on a sheet of paper as needed, and then returning to her over-laden table in the middle of the room.

As for Sayori…she sat in the last corner of the room, staring out of a window at the nondescript schoolyard. She was just.

So.

Booooooooooooored.

She didn't want to bother Yuri or Monika while they were enjoying their own hobbies, nor did she want to bother Natsuki…nothing made any of their Unawake selves as happy as spending time with their game's PC. Sayori idly reflected on how creepy that was, but then dismissed the creep-factor as an occupational hazard of a Dating Sim character. Sayori turned her gaze back into the clubroom. 'Self-care is important, Sayori. You matter too, whether you feel that way at the moment or not,' she recalled Monika telling her. Repeatedly. At least two or three times a loop.

She took a closer look at her friends…and realized that while Monika seemed absolutely engrossed in what she was doing, Yuri actually had a dull expression and was cleaning and sharpening her knives with stiff, robotic-seeming motions. With a sudden start, Sayori realized, 'She's as bored as I am right now! I should totally go entertain her!'

With a bright smile and a spring in her step, Sayori hopped up out of her seat and skipped over to where Yuri sat. She unpocketed a chess set and slammed it down on the desk Yuri was sitting at, causing several knives (and Yuri) to jump. "S-Sayori!"

"You, me, Doki Doki Literature Club Branch Chess Championship match, right now!" Sayori exclaimed. Monika looked away from her piano with a cocked eyebrow. Natuski (and Hiroaka, maybe?) glanced their way for a second before going back into their self-contained bubble of…romance…

"Ch-chess championship?" asked Yuri, hopelessly befuddled.

"Sure! You and me are the only two that are any good at it, anyways. No need to wait until everyone's Awake," said Sayori.

"Well…o-okay, that sounds fun, I guess…"

"This was just the first thing I thought of. If there's something else you'd like us to do, we can do that instead," Sayori offered.

"No! Chess is fine–"

"Yuri, there are plenty of things that both of us like, and I'm sure there are things you like that I haven't even tried yet…hey, I know! Why don't you try teaching me something!"

Yuri blinked. "Teach you…huh?"

"You're at your best when you're explaining something that interests you to someone else, right? So teach me something! I'll probably screw up a bunch, so it's bound to be hilarious, right?"

"Sayori, don't say that. You're really quite bright, even if you sometimes act even more childish than Natsuki…"

"I heard that!" interjected the club's resident tsundere.

"Anyways, what've you got? Just as long as it isn't too…y'know, out there, I promise I'll give it my best shot!" Sayori vowed.

The next day…

"There, that should do," said Monika. She was in study hall and had just put the finishing touches on her new piano composition. She looked up at the clock as she stood and stretched…and had to facepalm. "Really?! I'm always late today…must be one of those 'narrative glitches' Twilight mentioned," the club prez muttered as she gathered up her things and rushed to the clubroom.

She entered…and blinked. "What?" she asked of no one in particular.

"Hey Monika! Look at what I can do!" exclaimed Sayori, who was riding a unicycle.

That was balanced on a huge beachball.

While juggling red rubber balls. And bowling pins. And torches. And, of course, a few knives.

Also, a single Ming vase.

Natuski was staring with her mouth hanging open. Hiroaka probably would be, too, if he had a mouth, or eyes.

"Isn't Yuri the best teacher ever?!" asked Sayori, giggling irrepressibly.

Moinka looked over at Yuri, who was staring blankly at the spectacle she had wrought. "When she isn't depressed, her enthusiasm can be a real force of nature," the purple-haired poet mused.

"OH! I wonder if I can do this while playing the kazoo!"

Monika felt her phone buzz, and opened it to a text message. "Jenny wants to know if she could juggle some chainsaws, as well."

"I was just trying to teach her how to throw knives!" Yuri exclaimed, "I don't even know how it came to this!"

 **3.11 - The Bet (by Skaz Wolfman)**

It was the second day of this loop, and Monika couldn't wait to get to the clubroom. Everyone was Awake again, which meant it was time for everyone to show each other the projects they had been working on since the last time they had all been Awake. Monika was particularly excited to play her new symphony for everyone, and she was very curious to see how Natsuki's Parfait Girls: The Next Generation doujinshi was turning out. Yuri, who had spent an eight-year fused loop as some feudal Japanese swordsmith's apprentice, had since been working on forging her own set of artisan katana. And Sayori…Monika wasn't sure what her VP was working on, but she was sure it would be great!

Monika giggled happily as she approached the clubroom door. It wasn't everyloop that she found herself in such a chipper–

"SAYORI, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" Monika screamed an instant after opening the door.

The clubroom was a forest of nooses, and from each one hung a life-sized Sayori-doll, each one in a different outfit and with a different expression. Some silly-looking, some even more macabre than the real thing…

One was completely normal, but with googly-eyes.

Frozen in surprise, the real Sayori, and Yuri, stared at their club president. Yuri was holding up a doll–this one with its tongue sticking out and swirls for eyes, –while Sayori stood on a step-stool and adjusted its noose. Something in the room flashed brightly; Monika blinked spots out of her eyes and turned to see Natsuki holding up a camera and grinning like a maniac. Then Sayori mirrored Nat's grin and punched Yuri in the shoulder, "Ha! Told ya so; you owe me ¥50,000!"

'Wait, what? Did they…make a bet about me?!' Monika wondered.

"S-s-s-Sayori m-m-made a be-bet–"

"Stop, before you bite your tongue, Yu," said Natsuki, visibly struggling not to laugh. She turned to face Monika and explained, "Yeah, Sayori bet us that she could make you drop an f-bomb within less than five seconds of entering the clubroom."

Monika narrowed her eyes at Sayori. Then she closed them and sighed, "Sayori, I…I guess it's a good thing that you can…make light of…..what you've been through…but this really wasn't funny. At all."

Sayori gave her a softer, apologetic smile. "Yeah…I know…but you have to admit, it really got your heart going, didn't! Like some kind of doki-doki overdrive!"

Monika facepalmed, Natsuki guffawed, Yuri raised an eyebrow, and Sayori…fell off her stool, unbalanced by waving her arms through the air.

"Ow-ieeeee~"

* * *

3.1: DDLC gets a SCP designation.

3.2: Jeremy plays DDLC instead of Lyoko.

3.3: Natsuki doesn't like scary manga. Yuri, on the other hand...

3.4: Monika gets on Thinktank.

3.5: The club experiences the Elevator.

3.6: Sayori tries some magic, with mixed results.

3.7: Some ponies play DDLC.

3.8: Sayori tries to prepare for the worst.

3.9: WINDOWS. VISTA.

3.10: Sayori has a knack for learning stuff that isn't even being taught.

3.11: Sayori wins a bet and freaks out Monika.

* * *

It's been a while. Regardless, enjoy!

PS: There will be an arc that takes up an entire chapter at some point. :)


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